Mistrial declared in murder case due to prosecutor's ethnicity remarks

A mistrial was declared Thursday for a man accused of murder because an assistant prosecutor made references to his Albanian ethnicity during jury selection and the opening statement.

Judge Mary Chrzanowski ruled Assistant Macomb County Prosecutor Steven Fox shouldn’t have referred to Viktor Shaholli’s descent during the first two days of trial proceedings in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens.

Shaholli, 64, is charged with first-degree murder and felony firearm in the November 2011 shooting death of Dashamir Matjani in a St. Clair Shores home. Matjani, 29, was the brother of Shaholli’s daughter-in-law, Ermira Shaholli.

Shaholli’s attorney, Tim Barkovic, filed the mistrial motion Thursday morning, arguing that allowing the references would taint the jury against his client and deny him a fair trial. The courtroom was filled with people with Albanian ethnicity who were offended, Barkovic claimed.

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Barkovic said the references inferred “incorrect assumptions and generalizations that would take the place of the truth.”

“I felt incumbent to file a motion for a mistrial,” Barkovic said. “Ethnicity isn’t an issue in this case, homicide is. The prosecutor should base his statements on the facts of the case and not the background of the defendant.”

Fox said he disagreed with and argued against the mistrial.

“It’s a shame we’re going to have to put the victim’s family through this again,” he said. “Next time I will be overly cautious (about word usage) but the theme will remain the same and the facts will remain the same.”

Fox said Shaholli’s Albanian heritage was relevant because of the cultural taboos that affected his behavior. Shaholli immigrated from Albania and lives here on a green card.

Fox noted jurors already knew about his ethnicity because Shaholli has been afforded an Albanian-language interpreter for proceedings.

During jury questioning the assistant prosecutor asked if prospective jurors if they are biased against Albanian people; one said she was and was dismissed.

He also mentioned Shaholli’s heritage in his opening statement.

Shaholli doesn’t deny shooting Matjani but claims he was insane at the time so should not be convicted criminally but confined to a mental facility.

Fox counters Shaholli had a reason to kill Matjani. As the family patriarch, Shaholli exerted control of younger members and shot Matjani in anger over his daughter-in-law and son’s plan to move from communal-style living in his large family home on Hoffman Street in St. Clair Shores into a smaller home on Receation Street, where the shooting took place, Fox contends. Matjani was helping renovate the Receation home.

Barkovic also objected to Fox’s use of the word “compound” in reference to the Hoffman home.

“The only times I’ve heard a home referred to as a compound was that was when Osama Bin Laden was caught, some place in Utah and the Branch Dividians,” Barkovic said.

Fox asserts Shaholli is faking insanity to try to avoid prison.

Initially, after he was arrested, Shaholli was found mentally incompetent to face charges, but two judges have found him competent based on doctors’ reports. Doctors also believe Shaholli is faking.

Barkovic plans to present a psychiatrist who has said he believes Shaholli is legally insane.

Chrzanowski ruled that Fox’s statements were unintentional, ordering the trial to restart Tuesday.

Fox is running for a seat on the Macomb Circuit Court bench to replace retiring Judge Peter J. Maceroni, whose son, James, also is running.